Intergenerational Transmission of Victimization

Using four decades of Danish administrative data, we estimate the intergenerational transmission of violent crime victimization.

Using four decades of Danish administrative data, we estimate the intergenerational transmission of violent crime victimization. Sons are twice as likely, and daughters three times as likely, to be victimized if a parent was victimized, with stronger associations if the mother was the victim. Controlling for cohort, municipality, socioeconomic factors, parental cohabitation, and parental offending explains about 60% of this correlation. The link is weaker in higher‑income families; it persists for sons, but is driven to zero for daughters. Further, children of victimized parents experience lower absolute income mobility, comparable to the Black‑White difference for men in the United States.